what would you do?

[cfiscel]

after several years of keeping different herps, i'm convinced i want to focus exclusively on ball pythons. i'm planning on getting a practical rack system and begin with a small number of animals. besides the beauty of the species i think it would be wonderful to make some money doing what i love. my question is this: if you were just starting out and wanted to make a wise investment in this market, what morphs would you begin with? i've already considered a lemon pastel and mojave as almost certainties. what others would you consider worthy? i'm not wanting to spend a small fortune but do have the resources available if needed. also, does anyone know if there are combination racks out there for balls which house several different sizes in the same rack? any comments or advice is appreciated and thank you..........chris

[daniel1983]

If you are looking for some combo rack systems, I would suggest giving these two guys a call to see what they can offer:
http://www.freedombreeder.com/
http://www.arscaging.com/

As far as what morphs to start off with.....what do you currently have as far as ball pythons are concerned?

[cfiscel]

right now i have a clean slate as far as balls go. as soon as i get rid of the corns and beardies i'll be ready to take the plunge. heck, even if i can't sell them i'll still be getting the balls. thanks for the link also..........chris

[Shaun J]

after several years of keeping different herps, i'm convinced i want to focus exclusively on ball pythons. i'm planning on getting a practical rack system and begin with a small number of animals. besides the beauty of the species i think it would be wonderful to make some money doing what i love. my question is this: if you were just starting out and wanted to make a wise investment in this market, what morphs would you begin with? i've already considered a lemon pastel and mojave as almost certainties. what others would you consider worthy? i'm not wanting to spend a small fortune but do have the resources available if needed. also, does anyone know if there are combination racks out there for balls which house several different sizes in the same rack? any comments or advice is appreciated and thank you..........chris

Ok, my opinion...

You should start with a pastel and a spider and a normal. Do you know how many possibilities you start there?

Pastel x Normal = 1/2 pastels and 1/2 normals
Pastel x Pastel baby = SUPER PASTELS!!!
Pastel x Spider = Bumblebees
Bumblebee x Super pastel = KILLER BEE
Bumblebee x normal = spiders, normals, and pastels
spider x normal = spiders and normals
spider x spider = MORE SPIDERS!!


Ok all that and not to mention a few years down the road you might have another morph that makes designer morphs with either a pastel or spider. The only drawback to spiders and pastels are that the prices are going down on co dom and dom mutations, so by the time you are making babies, the prices will be less. If you want to add a recessive het pair in the mix, it would be a good idea. Such as an albino het pair. Albinos and other recessives are
SLOWLY going down and are retaining their value very well. Plus whatever recessive you get might be able to create a designer morph with the spider or pastel.

[cfiscel]

thanks for the informative reply. what should the sex ratio be by morph?

[Shaun J]

If you are going for the less money spent route, which is ok, I would go for a 1.2 with the male being the spider.

If possible I would go for a male normal too, in order to make the pastel babies, and to make super pastels, and killerbees.lol.

Either that or get another pastel...

[jhall1468]

If I were you, I would do some research. Pick a morph you REALLY like, and run with it.

The possible combinations are endless with virtually any two Codominant and/or Dominant morphs... the Pastel/Spider is a good example, but it's just one example (and besides, with two Codoms you can do more than with a Codom X Dom example that was given). Either way, unless you plan on putting up some big $$$ to start out, you aren't going to be producing Double Homozygous Codoms any time soon... and it should be noted that Recessive traits tend to keep there values better, thus, making a better long-term investment.

There are a great number of photos on this forum, and on others as well that should give you a pretty clear idea of what's available.